Continuing On
by alicia.cullen
Summary: This story is set after Terrier, and had Rosto and Beka in an established relationship. Tansy is in trouble with the Dogs, and Beka is...changing diapers? What is going on in the world of Tortall?Over 1000 hits! Thanks Guys!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- The Story Begins

Rosto came up behind Rebekah, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed the back

of her neck.

"Up early again? You do need to get some sleep you know."

She smiled and reached over her shoulder to touch his face. He was such a good man. It had been almost since she had met him at the court of the Rogue. Since then he had become the new Rogue. She still remembered it, back when she was a Puppy.

"I did get sleep silly. Although I don't expect you to remember since you were snoring so loud."

Rebekah had a mischievous grin on her face. Earlier in their relationship she had objected to being the Rogue's 'woman'. She hadn't thought it was right for her, a Dog, to be associated with the King of Thieves. Luckily for Rosto, Mattes and Clary had told her there would be no problem with it.

In fact Clary had said, "People share their deepest secrets in bed. If there was ever a way to get on the inside with the Court of the Rogue this would be it."

Rosto had spluttered and choked on his drink, Beka nearly laughed her head off, and Mattes had just laughed his loud deep laugh. Beka snapped back to the present.

"I'm sorry Ros, did you say something?"

"I asked you if you had guard duty tonight. My boys are making some, transactions, tonight and I was hoping you could, you know, ease some things up a little."

Rosto had that fantastic grin on his face, and she knew she wouldn't be able to say no to him, but she had to. She groaned. Not again.

"Come on Rosto. I thought we talked about this. I can't do anything to make your 'transactions' easier. The only thing I can do is make sure it doesn't get too messy when you get caught."

She laughed as he winced at the last statement. He was remembering what happened last time he went on one of those "transactions" or whatever he called them. He had gone to the old Court building and, let's just say things didn't go too well.

"Don't remind me." He groaned. "I was just getting over that last setback."

"Sure"

"No, really, I was." She looked skeptically at him.

"Your Majesty," she began mockingly. He knew he was in for it now.

"you haven't stopped _whining_ about that mission since you got back. And that was three weeks ago!"

He grinned, _again_. He knew she couldn't resist that smile.

"But I was starting to get better, before you deflated my self-esteem."

He put on a mock sad face. She shook her head at him.

"You need something deflated, and it's not your self-esteem."

He looked at her in horror.

"You wouldn't!"

"Yes I would. Your ego needs a good deflating."

"I can't believe you want to tell the Court I sleep with a teddy bear. That is so unfair. And besides, you would be saying _you_ sleep with a teddy bear too since the whole court knows we share a bed."

He smiled at her slyly and this time she was pretty sure she would have to hit him.

Beka heard a knock at the door. She managed to convince Rosto to let her go by telling him he wouldn't look very intimidating if it was Rogue business.

'Did he really want to answer the door to his boys with his arms wrapped around her waist?' She asked.

When she opened the door she was surprised to see Tansy in front of her. Standing beside Tansy were Clary and Mattes. Why would her old Dogs and her best friend be knocking on her door in the middle of the night?

"We have a problem Beka."

"What is it Clary?"

Goodwin had given Rebekah permission to call her by her first name when Beka had graduated from Puppy status.

"We just found Herun dead Beka."

Beka looked at her friend and teacher.

"Does Tansy know?" she whispered to Mattes.

Clary shook her head no. Apparently she had better hearing then she let on.

"We thought it would be best if you told her. She likes you, and we just found out she has another little one on the way."

Beka mouth was set in a grim line.

"Well I should hope she likes me, we are best friends after all. But that's beside the point. Please come inside. Rosto, we have company."

"Who is it?"

The Rogue's palace was one of the safest buildings in the Lower City, Rosto made sure of it, but he was still paranoid.

"It's just Tansy, and Clary and Mattes." She knew he wasn't extremely fond of her old Dogs, so she kind of 'coughed' the last part.

"It's Tansy?" Rosto repeated. "I'll be right down. What does she want?"

"I'm not sure. Tansy, why did you come here?"

Beka smiled a little at her friend and rolled her eyes. Ros could sure be a pain. Tansy looked slightly nervous.

"I'm not sure why we came here. Mattes came and got me. He said we had to go right away, and we were meeting up with Clary. Then we came here. That's all I know. Why do they look so, I don't know, sad?"

Beka wasn't expecting her friend to be so perceptive. She had no idea where to begin. She knew she had to tell Tansy something, but she didn't know any details. She decided to take the safest route.

"I'm going to make some tea. Clary, I need your help."

She looked pointedly the older woman.

"Right, ahem, I'll help you with that, uhh, tea."

Clary followed Beka into the kitchen.

"Alright, that was the lamest getaway ever." Clara said dryly.

Beka smiled. "Clary, what happened back there? What happed at Herun's house?"

Beka was genuinely concerned for her teacher. She had never seen her so tired.

Clary took a deep breath,

"When we went into the room where we found him, it was a disaster. You can imagine what he looked like. They picked the one room in the house that wasn't likely to be left empty for long, the nursery. They left him in the nursery Beka. One of the little ones woke up while we were in there and started screaming. Thank goodness Tansy was at a friends' house. If she had been there I don't know what would have happened."

She said all this after closing her eyes and laying her head back against the wall. At least Beka now had something she could tell Tansy. Unfortunately that was not going to happen. Beka heard a high pitched scream, and then sobbing. Apparently Mattes had decided to tell her himself and not wait for Beka.

Beka ran into the other room at the same time Rosto did. Ros however had a knife drawn. The sight of the knife sent Tansy into even more hysterics. She started babbling incoherently and pointing to the knife. She wasn't making any sense at all. "Beka what happened?" asked Rosto.

She was spared having to answer by Mattes, who said

"It's probably my fault. I didn't want to wait until you were done in the kitchen, so I decided to go ahead and tell her."

"Tell her what?" Ros was completely confused.

This time Tansy answered him. Still sobbing, she said,

"Herun's dead Rosto. My husband is dead."

Then she fell back into hysterics and started wailing,

"What am I going to do?"

Beka knew she was going to have to do something. She thought for a minute, and figured it out. Unfortunately someone beat her to it. Clary walked in from the kitchen and slapped Tansy across the face. Mattes grinned.

"Obviously you're feeling better."

Clary glared at him. Beka took this opportunity to talk to Tansy, or at least try to.

"Tansy, Tansy, look at me. You have another little one on the way. If you stay this hysterical, you will lose your husband and newest babe on the same day. Calm down Tansy. Calm Down!"

Tansy's sobs shrank to quiet hiccupping whimpers. Rosto decided that now was a good time to ask his question.

"What are Mattes and Clary doing here? You only said Tansy was here." He had a little bit of a pout in his voice.

Beka stared at him.

"Do you really think this is a good time to go into this? I know you aren't fond of them, but couldn't you act like they weren't the ones to arrest you three weeks ago? For me?"

"All right. I'll be good."

Rosto sighed dramatically. The group heard a quiet giggle. Tansy was laughing at Rosto.

"See, I'm good at cheering people up."

"Shut up" was the unanimous reply to that statement.

Rosto looked at Tansy, "See, I don't get any love from these people!"

Tansy giggled again and looked flirtatiously at Rosto. Beka sighed.

"Boyfriend, stop leading on my best friend."

Then she looked at Tansy.

"Best friend, stop flirting with my boyfriend."

Mattes and Clary chuckled at this exchange. Tansy had started crying again when Beka called her on flirting with Ros.

"B-but Beka," she sobbed, "I j-just miss m-my Herun so much."

Tansy started wailing again. Beka was tired of her fickle friend.

"You told me last week you were tired of Herun. The only reason you were upset a minute ago is because you wanted us to feel sorry for you. I know you Tans. I know you too well to put up with whatever story you are going to tell. And I certainly know you too well to let someone like Rosto end up with you."

Tansy gaped at Beka. She knew her friend was honest, but she didn't think Beka would bring up the past this soon after her husbands death. Tansy wasn't about to deny that she was glad, to a point, that Herun was gone. He was a rich man, but a very poor husband. Beka had no right though to bring up what had gone on at the house on Mutt Piddle Lane.

_Flashback_

_Tansy sat on the bed in her mother's house. She hadn't seen her in two years even _

_though she only lived three houses away. Her mother wasn't able to come outside _

_much. Hera slept through the day and began her business at night. Everyone on Mutt _

_Piddle Lane knew what Tansy's mother did, and there were even whispers that Tansy _

_was going to follow in Hera's footsteps. Tansy looked up from the bed and saw _

_someone in the doorway._

"_Are you one of Hera's new brats wench?" _

_Tansy thought he meant children so she answered _

"_No sir, I'm one of her older ones I just don't come _

_around all that much." _

_The stranger leered at her. He didn't seem that old, but he had _

_yellow teeth and foul breath._

"_How much then girl? Three copper nobles? Silver even?" _

_Tansy suddenly realized who he thought she was. _

"_I'm sorry sir but you have it all wrong. I'm no doxie. I'm Hera's daughter." _

"_Daughter, doxie, all the same gixie. If you don't name yourself a price I'll choose one for you, and it'll be free."_

_He reached out for her but she stepped back. _

"_Six copper nobles." She blurted out. "No less than six. That's only for a regular also sir. I charge extra for special services."_

_She had heard her mama make a deal before and she just raised the price. Tansy hoped he didn't want anything different since she didn't know how to do anything at all. That was the last time she went to her mama's house. Beka was the only one she had ever told about that night and that was only after Beka promised never to tell anyone about it._

_End Flashback_

Beka instantly felt bad about what she said.

"Tansy, I didn't mean to bring it up. Honestly I…"

"You didn't think about. That's because you don't care Beka. You never cared. You werealways just like 'it'll be okay Tans' or 'just forget about him Tansy. It's no big deal', but you weren't the one who had to deal with it all!"

Tansy was yelling at Beka. Grieving for her husband was forgotten. Beka thought for a second and then said

"Shut up Tans. I bet you don't even care that Herun died. I bet you killed him yourself and then left him in the nursery so someone would find him quickly."

Everyone stared at Beka. Clary and Mattes were shocked that Beka would even think something like that. Then they looked at Tansy. She was pale white and shocked.

"How. Dare. You. You accuse me of murdering my own husband!?"

Tansy was sweating. She kept shifting her eyes to others in the room. Clary looked at Mattes and then back to Tansy.

"Mistress, I think you better come back to the Kennel with us. You don't look too well."

"I am perfectly fine _Guardswoman_. I don't need to go with you."

"Alright then lass," Mattes grinned,

"you are under arrest for the murder of Herun Lofts. Now do you feel the need to come with us?"

Beka turned to Tansy,

"Why did you do it Tansy? What did you think you would gain?"

"Beka it was him all those years ago at my mothers. I ended up pregnant and went to him. Since I wasn't a worker at Hera's no one could have proved he didn't force me. So he married me instead. What I did was the only way to be free of him don't you see?"

She was smiling calmly like it all made perfect sense.

"Clary she must be mad. She told me the name of the man that day, and it wasn't him. She must be rationalizing it any way she can. I'm tempted to believe her about the baby though. It wouldn't surprise me if she'd gotten pregnant."

Clary didn't look at Beka when she replied,

"I don't know Cooper. I guess we'll find out more when we get to the kennel and the other Dogs get their paws on her."

Before Beka could say anything Clary smiled a humorless smile.

"Don't worry; we won't let them hurt her too bad."

Rosto and Mattes had been silent through this whole ordeal.

"Beka." Rosto said quietly.

"Someone is going to have to take care of Tansy's newest child when, if, she goes to the cages."

Beka looked at her man. She loved him a lot, but she hoped he wasn't suggesting what she thought he was.

"Are you asking me if we can take care of Tansy's baby?" she asked.

"Yes I am love." He had that grin on again. Damn him and that grin. She was not going to give in this time. She wasn't.

Fivr Months later

"Rosto! I can't believe I said yes to this!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"What are we going to do with a baby?"

Beka still couldn't believe she'd let him talk her in to this. They didn't need a baby! What was Ros going to do, take the baby with him to the Court? Like she would let a baby go to the Court of the Rogue. Well, she was going to have to. She definitely couldn't take the baby with her on Dog business. She didn't even need the distraction Pounce provided.

"We can do it Beka. We'll make this work." Rosto smiled at her

. "Maybe someone in the building will be able to watch her. For now one of us is just going to have to take her with us."

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"Why do I have to be the one to take her?" Rosto was so adorable when he was whining.

"Because," Beka smiled. "I have to chase bad guys all over the Lower City for about four

hours, and then I have to go to training. I can't do that if I have with me."

Rosto knew she was right, but he wasn't giving up that easily.

"I am not going to the Court with a baby across my chest. How am I supposed to do

anything?"

"Ros, you don't do anything anyway!"

Beka was getting tired of the conversation. She walked up to Rosto's chair and sat on his lap.

"I know this must be hard for you." She purred. Rosto blinked, confused at the change in topic.

"It must be really hard to choose between a baby and meals." Her voice was practically dripping with honey.

"What do you mean?"

Rosto was wary now. Beka stood up.

"What I mean," she said in her normal voice,

"is that if you don't take the baby I can't go to work. And apart from meaning the force will be one short, it means you won't be able to keep up the same eating habits."

She grinned as he paled. She had said the right thing.

"So what time do I feed her?" Rosto acted like he had meant to take her all along. Beka shook her head. She loved Ros so much.

"Every hour. And don't forget she needs to be burped and changed after each feeding."

"This is so undignified" sighed Rosto


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ming was one of Rosto's best rogues. The twenty year old from the Yamani Islands was the best fighter, thief, and right hand man that Rosto had ever seen, apart from himself of course. The expert at naginata, shukusen (even though he wasn't a woman), and sword...Was babysitting?

"Rosto! Why am _I_ doing this? I thought Beka said you had to take the baby with_ you_, not leave her with me!"

Ming was speaking quietly so he didn't wake the sleeping baby in his arms. Rosto chuckled at his friend.

"Taking care of her for a few hours will hardly hurt you. Besides, girls love it when they see a cove holding a baby. You'll get even more than normal."

Ming had to remind himself he was holding a baby in order to keep from punching Rosto.

"Seriously though Your Majesty, Beka will kill you if she finds out you didn't take care of the baby yourself. By the way, have you two decided on a name for her?"

Rosto sighed. "We're working on it."

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No, no, absolutely not! We are not naming her Ariadne!"

Beka was exasperated beyond all belief. They had been trying to come up with a name for the baby for an hour and a half. The only problem was that they couldn't agree on _anything_.

"What if we name her Wilma?"

Beka was hoping Rosto would finally take her suggestions.

"Never." Stated Rosto simply. "I would never name my child that. Now it's a fine name, just not for her. How about Melanie?"

Now Beka was starting to get tired of repeating names, so she said

"That is the third time you've suggested that name. Maybe we need to make a list."

Rosto smiled as she made, as far as he was concerned, the best decision of the day.

"That sounds like a great idea. We can keep track of all the names we say no to."

"That's what I was thinking. We can make sure we don't keep repeating names."

She looked pointedly at him. He knew she was catching on to his ploy. He would say a name, make a big fuss when she said no, and then say it at least three more times.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Rosto grinned, again. Beka walked over to the bed, sat down next to him, and kissed him. She loved being able to do that whenever she wanted to.

"This is not as easy as we thought it would be."

She knew that was the understatement of the year, but she had to say it anyway.

"Can this really work? All of this, us, the baby? Do you really think this was a good idea?" She loved him so much. She didn't know what she would do if he said she was right, that this was all wrong. She needed him, and she hoped he needed her.

"Come here Beka."

Rosto put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned her head on his.

"I think this is a wonderful idea, and we'll make this work. I love you Beka Cooper."

"I love you too Rosto Piper."

She smiled as she said his name. He never used his real surname; he just went by 'Rosto Piper'. She was so glad she had him. Beka lifted her head and Rosto kissed her. She smiled through the kiss and relaxed into Rosto's arm. The baby started whimpering and brought them back to the real world.

"Let's get back to naming the baby." said Beka.

"Amanda. Amanda Elizabeth." Rosto stated.

Beka opened her mouth to give some reason they couldn't possibly name the baby that, and then she stopped. There really was no reason to reject the name. It was pretty, but not too flashy. It was delicate, yet strong.

"I like that. It's perfect."

Rosto started to defend the name. "It's a perfectly fine name. I don't see why you have to….Wait what? Did you say okay?" Rosto looked slightly bewildered. He was such a man.

"Yes Rosto, I said okay. I like that name."

Beka laughed to herself at the look of such utter confusion of Rosto's face. He looked so adorable when he was like that. Rosto picked up the baby and reached out to touch one of her tiny hands.

"Okay little girl, I guess you have a new name. How do you like Amanda Elizabeth? Is that a good name? A beautiful name for my beautiful girl."

Beka had never seen Rosto this gentle before. They had only had Amanda a few days, and Beka hadn't seen them together before. She did have to fix one thing though.

"You can't do that."

Rosto looked at her.

"Do what? Talk to her?"

Rosto was confused again.

'Honestly' she thought, exasperated, 'did it really take that much brain power to follow her?'

"You can't just call her beautiful." Beka stated.

"Why not? She is."

Rosto couldn't figure out why Beka would say such a thing.

"If you are going to call her beautiful, which she is, you can't just say that. You have to add brilliant. If she grows up being told only that she is beautiful she will depend on her looks as she gets older. But if you tell her she is beautiful _and_ brilliant she will be both."

Beka said this as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Surprisingly though, it made sense to Rosto.

"Where did you come up with that?"

Rosto wanted to know.

"It's something my mother used to say to us. One day I asked her why she always said beautiful and brilliant to her daughters. She told me the same thing I told you."

Beka went to take the baby from Rosto. He looked sad as she took Amanda away from him.

"Do you want to feed her?" she asked gently.

"Can I? That would be, you know, okay?" Rosto looked like a puppy dog with his hopeful expression and eager brown eyes.

"I can't think of any reason it wouldn't be. Here's her milk."

She handed him the milk and a cloth to wipe Amanda's mouth. He held the baby tenderly, almost like she would break if he held her too tightly.

"Is this right?" Rosto asked hesitantly

"I told you that you were doing fine. I wouldn't lie." Beka reassured him.

As he fed Amanda she made little slurping and gurgling sounds. Rosto smiled down at her like he was in his own little world, which in fact he was. He stroked her face as she drank the milk. Across one eyebrow, the other eyebrow, then down her nose, and repeat. Beka watched him with a smile on her face. She could tell that Rosto loved Amanda with all his heart. She was worried that he would change how he felt though, when she told him. Well, that could wait until later. He didn't need to know right away, did he?

Beka sighed. Becoming pregnant was not part of their plan after adopting Amanda. She hadn't thought that forgetting to wear the pendant for _one_ night would make that big of a difference. Apparently it did. What were they going to do? She and Rosto had wanted children for a while, but they both agreed that she couldn't be off work for the five of six months she wouldn't be able to work. Now she was pregnant.

She didn't think Rosto would be angry, but she did worry that he wouldn't pay as much attention to Amanda if he had his own child. She was pretty sure he would love them both equally, but the hormones were making her slightly irrational. She looked at Rosto and took a deep breath.

"Rosto, I'm pregnant." Beka said softly.

"What was that love? You'll need to speak up."

"I said, I am pregnant." Beka couldn't look Rosto in the eye.

Rosto looked quickly up at her.

"This is a poor time for a joke Beka. You had better not be messing with me."

Beka looked hurt that he would suspect that of her, so she started to cry.

"I thought you would be happy for us. I didn't think you would suspect me of teasing you when I tell you I'm pregnant. Apparently I overestimated you."

She was sobbing and angry. Rosto didn't know what to do.

"Come here."

Rosto pulled her on his lap after he put Amanda in her cradle.

"Shh, shh, everything is going to be alright. Do you hear me? Everything is fine."

He rocked her back and forth and rubbed her back. She needed him right now. She didn't need his good looks, she didn't need his wit, and she didn't need his smart aleck remarks. According to her, he had make a mistake and messed up. So his job was to make it better not worse. He had forgotten how emotional pregnant women got. Were Kora or Aniki ever this bad when they were pregnant? He couldn't remember. Aniki had been pregnant when he had met her. She was leaving because the King of Thieves in Scanra was the father of her baby, and she hadn't exactly been willing to have that happen. After she'd had the baby she gave it to a family along the road they were taking.

Kora had been betrayed by her lover after he had found out she was pregnant, so Rosto had helped her after that. Her baby had died soon after childbirth. Ah, now he remembered. A pregnant woman was emotional, self-conscious, craved really weird foods, and then got nauseous. Even the most level headed woman could become an emotional tornado when she was pregnant.

He had never dealt with a woman through her whole term before though. Both Kora and Aniki had been pretty far along when he met up with them. Well, how bad could it really be?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Rosto was so thrilled Beka was pregnant. Rushers at the Court were surprised to see their King so, well, cheerful. He was not acting very sane. Some of them got together to vote on who should approach him about it. They decided on Ming, with Kora and Aniki to back him up. They went to talk to Rosto later that day.

"Your Majesty," began Ming.

Aniki interrupted him,

"Look Ros, you aren't acting sane, you aren't being very kingly, and you are _humming_! Now, we want to know what is going on, and we want to know now."

Kora and Ming looked slightly embarrassed for Aniki. She really needed to learn diplomacy.

"Do you all feel like this?" asked Rosto.

"Yes." They answered at once.

Rosto supposed it couldn't hurt for him to share his news. Maybe "share" wasn't a strong enough word.

"BEKA'S PREGNANT! I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!!!" Rosto shouted enthusiastically.

All three of his friends looked at him with shocked expressions on their faces as he began doing a 'happy dance'. He was starting to really scare them a little. They started to back away. Very. Slowly.

"What are you all looking at?" inquired Rosto. He was starting to get that familiar feeling again, confusion.

"Did you forget to take your potion this morning Rosto?" asked Kora slowly.

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"Beka, I'm home." Rosto swept into their room. He lifted Beka off her feet and spun her

around.

"Feeling better today?" he asked her.

"Actually, I am. I haven't had any weird meltdowns, and I haven't been sick at all."

After saying this she had to run to the bucket and throw up. Rosto just rubbed her back as she heaved.

"I might have spoken too soon." She croaked out.

"Don't worry, everything will be okay." Rosto reassured her.

Then he asked,

"So have you decided when the wedding will be?"

She turned white, then red, then green. She had to throw up again. When she stopped she looked at him.

"We need to talk about that. I want to marry you, but what happens when you don't come home one day? Or when one of us decides we aren't right for the other? What if you end up feeling like you don't want this baby, or this relationship? I want to marry you Rosto, I really do. I'm just scared."

Rosto was quiet for a moment, and then he replied, very seriously and gently,

"I love you more than life Beka Cooper. I would never leave you and I would never hurt you. If I ever left you or hurt you in any way I would have myself to answer to first of all. Not to mention all the other people who care about you and what happens to you. And if you think my people, Kora and Aniki and Ming, would abandon you and Amanda and our baby if anything happened to me, you underestimate them. I understand you being scared. I'm more scared than anyone, but I also love you more than anyone. I love you and respect you enough to wait for you. If you want to marry a crooked old thief like me then go ahead. If you need time, then that is perfectly fine. The one thing I will not do is leave you; I will always be here for you."

Beka was crying when he finished saying what he needed to. She loved him back with all her heart, but she needed time to think. She was pretty sure she wanted to marry him. The only thing was she didn't want to marry him because it was the 'right' thing to do. She was going to marry him because he loved her, she loved him, and they both wanted to make it work. She would sleep on it and let him know tomorrow what she was thinking.

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When she talked to Rosto the next morning, she hadn't gotten much sleep. She had been nauseous all night but she hadn't wanted to get up and disturb him. She had finally made her decision. It wasn't easy, and she wasn't sure how he would take it, but……..

"Yes Rosto, I'll marry you. When we have this baby it will be a Piper, and so will its sister Amanda."

Beka was happy to see Rosto's face light up in a huge grin.

"YES! I knew it, I love you Beka. I'm so glad you agreed to marry me. Do you want a smallish wedding? Medium? Ginormous? So, what is it?"

_(For your information, Ginormous is a word. Gigantic + Enormous Ginormous. And for all of you people who say I'm crazy, here's a big :-P to you. Lol, j/k)_

Beka laughed out loud at Rosto's inability to use the English language.

"I wouldn't mind a medium size wedding, but can we afford it?" she inquired.

"We can afford anything you want. That shouldn't be a problem since, well you know, since I do what I do at the Court."

Rosto had a sheepish smile on his face. One that meant he knew Beka wouldn't be happy with him, but he had to say it anyway.

Beka sighed,

"Alright, but I only approve this _once_, and only because it is our wedding. After that you have to promise not to bring it up anymore."

Rosto nodded and kissed Beka on the lips. She hugged him tightly and laid her head on his chest. She thought about what planning their wedding was going to be like.

Maybe Kora and Aniki would help her. She would have to make them bridesmaids. She could even try to coax Clara into a dress for long enough to be her maid of honor. Ming would probably be best man, with Mattes as another of the groomsmen.

Beka would wear an off-white wedding dress. Since she was getting married pregnant it wasn't like she was still 'innocent'. Her bridesmaids would wear either a light blue, or a light purple. She would carry white roses with lilies and baby's breath laced through. Beka could picture everything.

It would be the wedding she had always wanted, and also the one her mother never got to have. It would be a perfect day. She would invite everyone she knew. The only people not invited were her sister Diona and Lady Tedorie, Lord Gershom's wife. Diona had not recognized Beka as her sister in a long time.

She would have to talk to Rosto about making her brothers groomsmen. That is, after they actually _met_ Rosto. Maybe they were a little young to be groomsmen, but that may not matter. Her sister Lorine would be her flower girl. Lorine was the only sister who actually admitted being related to Beka. That hadn't been true in the beginning, but she managed to change things. She was glad she had introduced him to her family already. They all liked him as much as she did.

Except for Diona.

"Beka IIony Cooper, how can stay with this man?"

Beka hadn't counted on Diona being home when she came to visit. It seemed like she was always out with Lady Tedorie or off somewhere flirting with boys. Diona didn't approve of Rosto, and she never had. The only reason she tolerated him at all was because he made decent money. That tolerance had been very thin as of late. Beka was starting to think Diona truly hated her fiancé.

"Mistress Diona," Rosto really didn't know how to shut up did he.

"If you really thought I was never right for Beka why didn't you do something about it? You could have approached either one of us and talked seriously about it. Mattes approached both of us at the same time. He expressed his concern for Beka's career as a Dog if she continued to see me. I told him that if that ever became an issue, I would remove myself from her life if she wanted me to. I would even do it if she didn't tell me to, but if it was the best thing for her anyway."

He looked at Beka,

"That's what we talked about while you were out of the room. I would have told you, but he asked me not to."

Beka sighed, "He was playing older brother again."

Diona looked from one person to the other. "I don't know if I will ever be really okay with this Bek. I just think you deserve better. I mean he's…"

Beka cut Diona off.

"He's what Di? He's a _thief_? He's not good enough? Come on tell me another. He loves me Di. He cares about me, he won't leave me, and most importantly he didn't run away when he found out I was pregnant."

Beka looked her sister straight in the eye and her voice got deadly quiet.

"Do you know what the man who fathered you said? Did mom ever tell you? He said to our mother, and I quote, 'I don't want to have a kid with a bitch like you. You are just a common whore.' Do you really think that he cared about you at all? I don't think he did. I think you were just another of many children he fathered. Did you know that mom made him marry her? She went to the Goddess temple and told them. They forced him to marry her. He used to beat her every night Diona. I know you don't remember that but I was three when you were born so I do. When he finally left her she was _happy_. She was happy to be free of the dirtbag who was your father. And you know what, you turned out just like him. You are a backstabber who cares nothing about her family. If you cared you would be happy for me just because _I_ am happy with Rosto. I think you hate him because you don't have anyone who cares about you."

When Beka finished she was almost yelling. She knew she had hurt Diona but she didn't care. Everything she had said was the truth, and Di knew it. Diona had sunk down to her knees and was sobbing. Beka walked over to her and pulled her up.

"Diona Lily get up. You know what I said was true, but that doesn't mean I should have said it."

Diona was still shaking when she answered,

"You were more right than you know Beka. A few months ago milady almost cast me out. I had become…friendly with one of the stable boys. We, you know, got together. It turns out that the stable boy was Lady Tedorie's son by another man. A lower class man. So I was pregnant with this boy's child and he left me. He said he didn't want the responsibility. So I went to Lady Tedorie to ask her to help me in my pregnancy. The fact that I was pregnant wasn't the problem with her, it was who the father was. She was beyond livid. She was so angry with me I was afraid she would cast me out. My only saving grace was that milord didn't know she had this son. To cast me out would have meant explaining to him about this other man and son. She did however force me to give up the baby to a woman who's baby died in childbirth in a prison. She told us her baby had been supposed to be adopted so milady just gave her my baby instead."

Beka and Rosto looked at Diona with odd expressions on their faces. Beka asked her

"Who was it that you gave the baby to?" Diona stared at her. Why would Beka ask her such a thing.

"It was Tansy. I figured you already knew since you were friends with her."

Beka had to try hard not cry.

"Diona, I am so sorry about what I said before. Do you think you'll ever see your baby again?"

Diona looked furious

"How could you ask me such a thing? Do you _think_ I would ever be able to see my child again? How dare you?"

Beka was quick to assure Di that she hadn't meant anything mean by that statement. In fact it was quite the opposite.

"You see," Beka began, "we, Rosto and I, adopted Tansy's baby so it wouldn't have to be in prison until it reached adulthood. And now I guess you are saying it was your baby we took in. We weren't able to go get Amanda until a few days after Tansy, supposedly, delivered."

Diona looked shocked. Her sister had taken in her baby and she didn't even know?

"How could you not know who she was?" she whispered

"Didn't Tansy tell you?"

Rosto took the liberty of answering that one.

"We never actually saw Tansy when we went to pick up the baby. The guards met us at the door and handed Amanda to us. Oh, by the way, we named her Amanda Elizabeth. Her surname will be Piper as soon as Beka and I are married." Suddenly Beka thought of something.

"How long ago was it you became involved with this boy?"

"About a year. Why?"

"So that's why you stopped talking to me."

"I didn't want you to find out about him. I figured you would caution me about getting too serious, and I didn't want my sister interfering. So when can I come and get her back?" She asked this last question eagerly.

"I would have cautioned you, but I wouldn't have interfered. Your body is your body. There is something I have to tell you though."

Diona looked at her sister strangely.

"What is it?" she asked.

Beka sighed and began.

"Di, we aren't going to give you the baby back. We have her andshe's safe. And before you protest," Di had in fact just been about to say something. "she is more my daughter than yours. You didn't try to find her, and didn't bother to find out who she was being adopted by. You may think I am being heartless; however, she is legally ours and, apart from coming to visit her because she is your 'niece', you are not to see her at all. I love you, but Amanda will not be like you. She will not be raised in this house, not like I was."

Beka had a single tear running down her face. It was taking all her emotional control not to sob uncontrollably. Diona on the other hand was bawling. Beka walked over and kissed her sister on the cheek.

"I love you Diona, and I always will."

Rosto wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on top of the head as they left the house.

"I love you too Rosto." She replied to his unspoken statement.

"Let's go home." he said.


	5. Chapter 5

"Beka, you have to push."

Rosto was holding her hand as she was in the midst of agonizing contractions.

"I can't. I can't." She gasped.

"Oh god, Rosto it hurts so much."

Rosto looked helplessly at the midwife. What was he supposed to do?

The midwife grabbed Beka's other hand.

"Listen to me." She said in a calm and gentle voice.

"Your son is alright. He is healthy, but you were carrying twins. Now you need to push so that you have a healthy daughter as well. Now on the count of three I want you to push as hard as you can."

"One"

Beka took short gasping breaths in between cries of pain.

"Two"

She gripped their hands as hard as she could in preparation for what was about to come.

"Three"

Beka cried out as she pushed as hard as she could. Sweat was pouring down her face and her hair was all mussed, but Rosto had never seen her so beautiful.

"Have I ever told you that you are beautiful?" He asked her.

"SHUT UP!!" She shrieked, "NOW IS NOT A GOOD TIME!"

He smiled and held her hand tighter. With one last push she heard a loud wail. She realized that it was her daughter. She smiled faintly.

"Can I hold her?" She asked, panting.

The midwife handed her the little bundle of blankets.

"What are we going to call her Rosto? I already named Sean, you get to name her."

Rosto looked at his wife. The last time he had seen her this happy was on their wedding day. She had looked so beautiful that day. He hadn't though it would be possible for her to look more beautiful. He was wrong. As he watched her hold the newborn additions to their family she was more radiant and beautiful than he had ever seen her before.

"I think we should name her Alexis Jay. How does that sound? Alexis Jay Piper. Has a nice ring to it." He grinned.

"Sounds wonderful. Sean Logan Piper, and Alexis Jay Piper. Two beautiful names for beautiful children. We can go home tomorrow okay?"

She looked at him tiredly as she said this.

"But now I'm going to sleep."

He didn't even have time to respond before she closed her eyes and was off to sleep. He turned to thank the midwife but she had already gone. He left Beka with a kiss on her forehead and went to rescue Mattes and Clary from Amanda.

It had been three years since He and Beka had gotten married. She had miscarried the first pregnancy and had been scared to try again, worried it might happen a second time.

Amanda had just turned three a month ago and was in her explore everything and try to eat it phase. He had known it would be hard for the two old dogs to handle his little girl, so he had taken pity on them and told them he would be there early to pick her up.

When he got there she told him all about the 'round' they had taken her on. They figured she would like to explore the city some so they had taken her by all the pretty fountains and parks. Their 'round' also included a stop at the stables for a look at some of the pretty horses.

Rosto looked at the two Dogs with gratitude written all over his smiling face.

"She had a boy and a girl, twins." He told them happily.

Clary and Mattes congratulated him. Clary said that her and her husband would be willing to look after Amanda if they needed it.

Rosto thanked them both and went back to the house so Amanda could meet her new siblings.

"Hey Beka?" asked Rosto later. "Do you think we could make Mattes and Clary all three kids' godparents?"

"But I thought you didn't like them Ros?" She said, confused.

"Well, they're not so bad when they aren't arresting me." He grinned.

"That sounds like a great idea to me Rosto." Beka smiled at him.

Rosto smiled back. It was nice. He knew, somehow, that things would be okay. Maybe not easy. But always okay.

_A.N. Thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed. It's nice to know that people read your work. I am planning on doing several more stories in the "Continuing On" series. If you all could let me know what you think of that I would love you all forever :-)_

_Thanks Manys,_

_Meg_


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